The Capitals' former 40-goal winger signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. It's a win-win deal for a player who, objectively, needs to rehabilitate his long-term value and a team that had been openly gunning for another elite forward despite a draft-day trade that netted them Jordan Staal.

Semin got a premium salary, Carolina got an ideal term, and everyone involved should be happy.

Theories on whether Semin should've signed already, why he hadn't and what he was worth—if anything—had been one of the biggest, most exhausted subplots of the NHL offseason. The fact that the questions started months ago, while Semin was on his way out of Washington, and extended nearly a month into free agency only magnified that.

The end result: Carolina paid Semin like the guy who potted 40 two seasons ago, not the guy who scored 21 in 2011-12. If the latter shows up, no real harm done.

“We have done a lot of research about Alexander, and discussions about his fit with our team have included people at many different levels of our organization, including players, coaches and staff,” Rutherford said in a team release. “What’s been clear throughout this process was his commitment to wanting to play in the NHL, and compete against the world’s best players."

Semin's reputation, obviously, is not great. That's no secret. Former teammates have publicly ripped him for lack of effort. Others have defended him. He remains a more diverse player than he gets credit for, and he now gets a chance to show off that skillset and earn the long-term deal he's missed out on the last three seasons.